LIGHTNING ROUND: Quick Followup on Recent Blog Entries

[Image courtesy of tricycleoffense]

By the time this posts this morning I will be on my way to Washington, DC for the EAC’s Election Data Summit, where I’ll be giving a TED-style talk on why data matters and what we can learn from one of my favorite fields (hint: it’s diamond-shaped) about what properly formatted and collected data can do.

For that reason, just a short post today with some quick followup on recent posts. Ready? 3 … 2 … 1 … LIGHTNING ROUND – GO!

In Weakley County, Tennessee the election board voted 3 to 1 with one abstention to select Alex Britt, the hand-picked candidate of State Rep. Andy Holt, as the new administrator of elections. Back in June, I wrote about how Rep. Holt had forced out three GOP members of the board in order to facilitate Britt’s hiring. While the job was ultimately opened up to applicants, including a longtime deputy of the former administrator, the board eventually gave Holt and his state Senate colleague John Stevens their first choice.

In Alaska, Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott has certified a ballot question that would link Alaska Permanent Fund dividend applications with voter registrations – an effort I wrote about late last month. Mallott’s office is warning that if successful, the proposal could be costly, but supporters are claiming the bulk of the cost is upfront and that the benefit to the state will be long-lasting.

In Virginia, the State Board of Elections announced that it was postponing consideration of a proposal to remove boxes about citizenship and felony status. Last month, I blogged about how GOP legislators and many local election officials were questioning the timing and wisdom of the change.

The amazing thing is that all three of these stories went from “shot to chaser” in just the space of weeks – suggesting that the pace is picking up as the 2016 elections approach.

Hang on to your hats … I have a feeling the LIGHTNING ROUND feeling is going to be with us for a while …

Stay tuned!